My Craft Room - Before

Hello All!

I mentioned back in October, I would be re-doing my craft room.  Nothing much happened before or after Christmas besides putting together a Pinterest board of ideas.  Finally, we have started making some progress and since I had "before" pics I thought I'd share them.  I don't have any before before pictures --you know, the ones with all the builder beige walls and boob lights.  I claimed this room as mine the day we moved in and, three years later over one long weekend in January 2008, Dan and I created the room you see below.

I picked the smallest of the bedrooms and one in the front of the house with the most windows.  I LOVE LIGHT --the more the better; it's hugely motivating and great for crafting.  Our house faces east so we get full sun in the mornings.

The inspiration for this room came from a scrapbook kit from Michael's in which the theme was poppies.  I started out with painting half the room "Moss" (Laura Ashley for Valspar) and the remaining walls and ceiling white.

We gutted the closet, removed the doors, but left the brackets in case we convert the craft room back into a bedroom.  I did this so we could fit two more shelving units in the room.

 Dan edges for me when we paint.  I like to roll, roll, roll.  The edging is far too tedious and he's far more patient!   Once the painting was done, I added the wall decals (found online).

Poppies!  These wall decals are really wonderful.  They are the kind that peel off and stick on and are repositional/removable.  I can vouch for them that they do in fact stick and peel off and can be removed and repositioned; they have been up since 2008 and I haven't had one problem with them.

Once the decals were in place, it was time to start furnishing the room.  Here are the shelves; I was so happy they fit so well.

This one is is behind my desk.

More organizers - the one on the wall came from Michaels and the shelf from Ikea.

I loved the curtains when they were first up, but now I think they would look so much prettier if they hung down to the floor.

The computer desk.  I swapped out the small flat screen for a larger one and now there is a shelf above the bulletin boards.  I was able find a small shelf for the printer so the small end table is now in the sun room.

So that's the way it looked when we started the makeover--I cannot wait to show you what it looks like now!

Have a great week!

My Favorite Things: A Day For Daisies, My Cat Lilybelle, and My circa 1900s Mantel!

Happy Friday All!  Oh my goodness, December is whizzing by and I'm still not finished with my Christmas shopping - YIKES!!  Dan and I have been working like mad around the house and it is crazy how much time goes into even the littlest project.   But it's so rewarding when a room comes together so it keeps us moving onto the next!  We are now working in dining/living room and I cannot wait to share the pictures of that room.  I am so excited about one of the improvements we are putting in there that I have to show you!!  But first, I want to share a card I made using this A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. A Day For Daisies image (from the wonderful new release today).  I couldn't resist using Tammy's "Kitty Gift" image because it reminded of my LilyBelle - see her crazy little frizzy fur!?  She is a Himalayan mix and her coat has really gone through some phases - hee hee!

Here she is the day I brought her home July 13, 2009:

 and here she is now:

She is my constant companion and is always crafting with me...you know, chasing ribbon or sleeping on my table or batting about a bead she found on the floor :)  So.darn.cute!

Ok, enough of my going on about Lil; now it's time to get on with GUSHING about my latest Craigslist find! *giggle* I am so excited about this -- an antique Victorian double mantel!!!  

She is a beauty  - see for yourself:

SWOOONNN!  Look at those columns and that mirror!!!!  and you will never guess what I paid for her!   ONE HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE smackeroos - WHAT WAS THAT!?  yeppers $125.00 -  I couldn't believe it - I did one of those cartoon moves when I saw it:

I did not pass go, I did not collect $200, I moved directly to the phone and (1) called the owners, (2) arranged pick-up, (3)  rented a U-haul (cause she's 7 feet tall and 4 feet wide), and (4) changed out of my jammy jeans (no, I'm not kidding, my sister got them for me for Christmas last year) and was on the road less than 15 minutes later to Bowling Green to pick 'er up.   As it turned out, it had been listed previously for three times as much and it wasn't selling.  The owners were moving and it needed to go ASAP so they dropped the price.   Here's another look:

This amazing piece of history was removed from one of the historic homes in Bowling Green during renovation.   We actually passed the house it came from on Main Street on our way to get her!  I have written down these details and am placing them inside the mantel when it's installed (hopefully soon).  

Happy Crafting! <3 Lisa